Wests Tigers opened their Telstra Premiership account with a 28-18 victory over Penrith Panthers at Campbelltown Sports Stadium today.

The round two match attracted a crowd of 9715 with Wests Tigers prop Keith Galloway suffering a pec injury. The win was Mick Potter’s first as an NRL Coach.

Penrith opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a try to second-rower Sika Manu. It came after the ball was spread right for centre Wes Naiqama to find open space to link up with winger David Simmons who kicked the ball inside. The ball bounced backwards in-goal for Manu to dive on it to score.
Half-back Luke Walsh converted the try for a 6-0 lead.

Wests Tigers got a repeat set of six in the 30th minute through a grubber kick by five-eighth Benji Marshall . From the re-start, full-back Tim Moltzen split the defence to step his way through a gap to be tackled 10 metres short of the line. The ball was spread right but Marshall’s pass hit second-rower Liam Fulton on the shoulder for Penrith to pick it up.

Penrith suffered a blow in the 12th minute when five-eighth Lachlan Coote left the field with a pec injury.
Five minutes later, a quick tap by Wests Tigers hooker and captain Robbie Farah took a quick tap on the line for Marshall to score. Marshall converted the try for a 6-all scoreline.

Wests Tigers looked set to score through Marshall when he linked up with Farah and headed for the tryline. With Simmons closing in on Marshall, the five-eighth produced one of his trademark flick passes to winger Marika Koroibete but he couldn’t control the ball five metres from the tryline.

The pressure finally told on Penrith in the 33rd minute when replacement forward Ben Murdoch-Masila offloaded in a lifting tackle just short of the line for half-back Jacob Miller to step inside and out to score out wide for a 10-6 lead. Marshall converted the try for a 12-6 lead after 34 minutes.

2nd Half

Wests Tigers suffered a major blow in the opening seconds of the second half with prop Keith Galloway leaving the field. He will undergo scans tomorrow for a pectoral injury.

A short ball by Farah from dummy half saw prop Aaron Woods spin out of a tackle to slam the ball down on the line under the posts in the 46th minute for a 16-6 lead. Marshall converted the try for an 18-6 lead.

Wests Tigers then lost half-back Jacob Miller with a sprained right ankle in the 53rd minute after being caught under a tackle, leaving the team to just two interchange players.

Simmons reduced the margin to 18-10 when he dived over in the right corner despite a desperate tackle by centre Chris Lawrence. Walsh converted the try to leave Penrith trailing 18-12 after 55 minutes.
Wests Tigers stretched their lead to 22-12 in the 64th minute when Woods spun in a tackle made by prop Tim Grant to slam the ball down next to the posts for his second try. Marshall converted for a 24-12 lead.

Three minutes later, a grubber kick on the last tackle by Marshall saw forward Ben Murdoch-Masila attempt to score but the ball bounced off his leg before Koroibete dived on it to score just before the dead ball line. Marshall failed to convert for a 28-12 lead.

Penrith reduced the margin when Manu crashed through forward Eddy Pettybourne to score his second try. Walsh converted for a 28-18 scoreline after 73 minutes.

They're the NRL's great entertainers, but Wests Tigers veteran Braith Anasta concedes rival teams won't take his side seriously until they add some steel to their undoubted style.

The Tigers are off the mark for 2013 with a 28-18 win over Penrith at Campbelltown on Sunday, while Canberra coach David Furner's week went from bad to horrid as the undermanned Raiders were hammered 36-0 on the Gold Coast.

Flogged 42-10 by Newcastle last Monday night, the only way was up for the Tigers against the Panthers.

They got there, but it wasn't pretty, against a side which was forced to play 70 minutes without their chief playmaker when Lachlan Coote was forced from the field with a pectoral injury.

That the Panthers were still able to lay on three tries, and be in the game with 15 minutes to go, showed just how far the Tigers had to go to be talked about as a finals contender.

"It was just good to get the monkey off the back, just getting a win," Anasta said.

"That's all it was for us today is the win.

"We'd like to improve our defence ... we improved a lot today but we can improve a lot more.

"People aren't going to take us seriously until we do.

"No one's really giving us a chance this year. I think a lot of that comes off the back of our defence."

Anasta's opinion comes from some point of authority, given he has been in opposition to the Tigers for the first 13 years of his career.

He knows what the perception of the Tigers is among rival clubs, and is doing his utmost to help change that.

But Anasta also concedes the Tigers will always play their unique brand of football - especially while ever Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah are at the helm.

Even under new coach Michael Potter, the Tigers' ability to put points on the board will remain their strength.

"Benji and Robbie - they're the nucleus, and they're still there," Anasta said.

"They've got a lot to do with the way we play so it's not going to change a hell of a lot."

Two freak pectoral injuries have Wests Tigers and Penrith scrambling for a Plan B after the Tigers recovered from their NRL opening round stumble to down the Panthers 28-18 at Campbelltown.

Thumped by 32 points in Newcastle last Monday night, the Tigers were far more committed as they ran in five tries to three against a Panthers side which looked a distant cousin to the one that beat Canberra 32-10 in round one.

While coach Ivan Cleary wasn't prepared to throw up excuses, he did have one in the form of an injury to five-eighth Lachlan Coote, who left the field clutching his right shoulder after just 11 minutes, at which point the Panthers led 6-0.

The Tigers lost one in similar fashion with Keith Galloway going straight up the tunnel just minutes after the halftime break.

The best case scenario for both players is six weeks on the sidelines, but scans on Monday will determine the full extent of the injury.

While Galloway's absence left the home side light on for grunt up the middle, it was nothing compared to the effect Coote's withdrawal had on the Panthers.

"It definitely affected our attack today (losing Coote), but we never came here wanting to allow the Tigers to score that many points," Cleary said.

"I always get a bit nervous about early reports but it's (Coote's pectoral muscle) not ruptured so that's a good sign.

"If he can miss surgery that's only six weeks."

Cleary said he would weigh up his options to fill the No.6 jumper, with the likes of Tom Humble, Blake Austin and former Warriors playmaker Isaac John in the frame.

Galloway's injury opened up more time for prop Aaron Woods, who after an off-season hampered by a knee injury found his best form with two tries in a barnstorming display up front.

After Sika Manu's first try of the day on the back of a lucky bounce from a David Simmons kick, the Tigers scored twice before the break via halves Benji Marshall and Jacob Miller.

They could have had more only for a flamboyant Marshall flick to find the ground instead of Marika Koroibete's hands.

Woods sandwiched his double around an acrobatic Simmons effort in the corner, while Koroibete was the right man at the right time to seal the deal when he pounced on a Marshall grubber 13 minutes from time.

"We're not kidding ourselves," skipper Robbie Farah said of the win.

"They lost Lachlan Coote in the first ten minutes, Kingston had to go to five-eighth which I don't think he's ever played, Segeyaro had to play the rest of the game.

"They weren't at their best today and they still came hard at us at the end.

Hard grind in the wind, but Tigers showed more puff
March 18, 2013
Phil Gould
League Columnist

Every now and then you get a day like this one. With a strong wind blowing from the south and straight down the ground, both teams were going to experience 40 minutes doing it tough; and 40 minutes doing it even tougher.

Windy days can also produce untidy football games. This was pretty much the case at Campbelltown Sports Ground on Sunday as Wests Tigers defeated Penrith 28-18.

Both sides tried very hard. There was good energy from all players and the desire to perform was obvious. However, it was not a high-quality exhibition.

Ball control is vital to winning at any time; even more so in these conditions. You need to starve your opponent of quality possession.

To be honest, neither side could really be proud of their efforts. Both teams were guilty of soft turnovers.

The Panthers' errors came more as a result of poor execution. Forward passes from dummy half, passes to teammates not expecting the ball, not controlling the ball in the play-the-ball, even getting in each other's way; these simple errors sap a team's energy and confidence.

The Panthers have a lot of new players in this team and will naturally take some time to develop strong combinations. Their cause on Sunday was also hampered by the early injury to five-eighth Lachlan Coote. His place appeared to be taken by regular hooker Kevin Kingston so attacking formations were significantly restricted.

Given these difficulties it was even more important the Panthers controlled the basics of the game. This will be a harsh lesson learned, one would think.

The Panthers did produce some good offloads from the likes of big Sam McKendry and little James Segeyaro, but they never really capitalised on these chances to play second-phase attack.

The Tigers made just as many errors; however, most of their mistakes came from being over-adventurous with the ball. The Tigers gave the impression they had the Panthers covered a long way from home because they certainly attempted a lot of low percentage plays looking for the quick kill. I think I counted four intercepts they threw to Penrith players as they tried to keep the ball alive at all costs. We know they can be flamboyant but had they played a stronger team they may well have been punished for their lack of control.

The kicking game is also a key factor on windy days. On this score the Tigers were far better served. Hooker Robbie Farah and five-eighth Benji Marshall were far more effective both with and against the wind.

Penrith's kicking game rested solely with half Luke Walsh following the loss of Coote and he was well wide of the mark at vital times. The Panthers ran the ball on tackle five to score the first try. After that their fifth-tackle options simply represented soft hand-overs of possession to their opponents.

The Tigers' attacking structures were an interesting study.

After 10 years under the guidance of former coach Tim Sheens, one wondered what changes, if any, new coach Mick Potter would bring to the table.

For the most part it looked like business as usual. We saw no significant differences to the Tigers' structure or attitude.

Their forwards delivered a very deliberate assault on the advantage line looking to get things moving forward as soon as possible. They looked strong and committed.

In good field position they still favour both Farah and Marshall running across field with inside and outside decoy runners. They still like to attack short sides, sometimes two or three times in the same set of six.

They did find space out wide against the Panthers compressed defence. Left winger Marika Koroibete showed his superior speed on several occasions. He can certainly fly.

We never witnessed any of the sideline-to-sideline spreads of the ball on Sunday.

I think we can put that down to the windy conditions rather than any conscious effort to remove this signature play from their repertoire. In fact the bulk of the Tigers' tries came from barge-over efforts at close range to the Panthers' try line.

To their credit, the Panthers refused to give up and fought out the full 80 minutes.

In the end, though, it just looked like it was a win the Tigers needed to have after their first-round debacle. This victory won't take away all the pain of that night, but there should at least be a few smiles around training this week.

Wests Tigers claw back a bit of respect with win against Penrith Panthers

Andrew Webster
News Limited Network
March 18, 2013 12:00AM

THE best part for the Wests Tigers was that it was a victory, so that mortifying 32-point loss to the Knights in their season opener faded ever so slightly into the distance.

But are they back after their 28-18 victory over Penrith at Campbelltown Stadium yesterday?

No way.

“We would still like to improve our defence, and we talked about that after the game,” backrower Braith Anasta said.

“People won’t take us seriously until we do. That’s pretty much how it is. Nobody’s given us a chance this year, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But a lot of that comes off the back of our defence. If we can improve in that area, people will start taking us seriously about what we do.”

With the exception of a freakish opening try to Penrith backrower Sika Manu after a kick from winger David Simmons in the fifth minute, the Tigers were always ahead, always in control, but always inviting the Panthers back into the argument.

They allowed this despite the visitors being thrown into turmoil in the 11th minute when five-eighth Lachlan Coote injured his pectoral muscle trying to tackle Tigers fullback Tim Moltzen.

As a consequence, hooker Kevin Kingston was forced to move into the halves, leaving James Segeyaro to play almost the entire match. It meant Penrith were down an interchange hooker.

Yet the Tigers only led 12-6 at halftime. They only grabbed hold of the result when prop Aaron Woods crashed over for two tries in the second half to push his side out to a 24-12 lead, before Fijian winger Marika Koroiebete scored with 13 minutes to play.

In the absence of Keith Galloway, who also suffered a pectoral tear just after halftime, Woods delivered.

The resolve to hold on, though, could be attributed to a physical defensive session coach Mick Potter put his players through last Thursday in the wake of the Knights debacle last Monday night.

“Everyone was disappointed,” captain Robbie Farah said when asked about that defeat.

“You work so hard over three or four months over summer, and to play like that in round one is very disappointing. We had a really tough session on Thursday, we got stuck into each other on our defence, we wanted to right the wrongs of Monday night. It wasn’t the most polished performance but it was better.”

These are interesting times at the Tigers, and the woeful crowd of 9728 fans suggests the faithful are indifferent about their side.

There is no Tim Sheens, but a similar looking side with five-eighth Benji Marshall and Farah calling the shots.

Despite the pledge from Potter to calm down the pretty plays that have been the Tigers’ bane as much as their beauty in recent seasons, there was still plenty of no-look passes and flick passes and errant passes.

“I don’t mind the guys making plays when they’re on,” Potter said. “It’s just finding that balance between field position, the tackle count and whether or not it’s a pass that’s legitimately on.”

As for the Panthers, coach Ivan Cleary wasn’t allowing the early loss of Coote to be an excuse for some fundamental lapses in defence.

“It definitely affected our attack, but we never came here wanting to allow the Tigers to score that many points,” he said. “We’ll look back and see the tries we conceded just weren’t up to scratch.”

Kingston agreed.

“He (Coote) was a big loss, but there is no sugar coating our (issues in) defence,” he said. “We worked on them all off-season, and it felt like a real step back today.”

How long will Coote be gone for?

“I get nervous about early reports, but it’s not ruptured so that’s a good sign,” Cleary said. “If he can miss surgery it will be six weeks.”

Should his side not improve their defence against South Sydney next Sunday, the Panthers could face the same heavy loss as the Tigers in round one.